Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a light source module, a backlight unit including the same, and a liquid crystal display (LCD) device including the same.
Discussion of the Related Art
Active matrix type LCD devices display a moving image by using a thin film transistor (TFT) as a switching element. The LCD devices can be miniaturized unlike cathode ray tube (CRT), and thus, are applied to display devices of portable information devices, office machines, computers, etc., in addition to televisions (TVs). Therefore, the LCD devices quickly replace the CRT. Since the LCD devices are not self-emitting devices, a backlight unit is provided under a liquid crystal panel, and an image is displayed by using light emitted from the backlight unit.
The backlight unit is categorized into a direct type backlight unit and an edge type backlight unit depending on a structure where a light source is arranged. The edge type backlight unit has a structure where the light source is disposed on one side of a light guide plate, and the direct type backlight unit has a structure where the light source is disposed under the liquid crystal panel. Here, the direct type backlight unit has a limitation in thinning, and thus, is mainly applied to LCD devices where brightness is more important than a thickness of a panel. The edge type backlight unit capable of thinning and miniaturizing unlike the direct type backlight unit is mainly applied to LCD devices where a thickness is important like notebook personal computers (PCs), monitor PCs, etc.
In the backlight unit, the light guide plate is disposed on the light source so as to reflect light, emitted from the light source, to the liquid crystal panel. In a process of disposing the light guide plate on the light source, a protective film attached on the light guide plate is removed, and at this time, static electricity occurs in the light guide plate. The static electricity occurring in the light guide plate is transferred to the light source, causing a short circuit defect where a portion of the light source is darkly burned. For this reason, in the backlight unit and the LCD devices of the related art, the light source is damaged by the static electricity, and image quality and reliability are degraded.